The UC Santa Barbara baseball team saw two of its three-run lead it built up disappear against its Blue-Green Rival Cal Poly Friday night at Baggett Stadium,

But it didn’t let the third one go to waste.

UCSB defeated Cal Poly 10-7 in 11 innings Friday night, keeping its first place lead in the Big West safe.

It was the Gauchos’ first extra innings win of the season.

With the win, Santa Barbara improved to 28-10 overall and holds a 17-2 Big West record and a substantial lead over second place Cal Poly, who fell to 24-17 overall and 11-5 in conference play.

UCSB had its share of mistakes Friday, despite pulling away with the win.

Santa Barbara entered the bottom of the ninth inning with a three-run lead, but the Mustangs scored a pair of runs via RBI sacrifice flys to cut the lead to one, 7-6.

With a runner on first base, Cal Poly senior Mark Armstrong hit a routine grounder to UCSB shortstop Jordan Sprinkle, but the sophomore misplayed the ball, leading to runners on first and second.

The next batter, Tate Samuelson who tied the game in the bottom of the eighth at 4-4 with a groundout RBI, hit a grounder to the third baseman, but the ball went past him, leading to the tying run score and sending the games to extra innings.

The Gauchos had runners on second and third with one out in the top of the 10th, but couldn’t get a run across.

But, in the 11th, UCSB made the most of its opportunities, starting with a solo shot junior Blake Klassen to give the visiting Gauchos an 8-7 lead.

Klassen, the Gauchos designated hitter, had a great game at the plate, going 3-for-6 with a pair of home runs and four RBIs.

Later in the frame, sophomore Nick Oakley brought home two runs with an RBI double to give the Gauchos their third three-run lead of the game.

Freshman right-handed pitcher Matt Ager was also clutch in the Gauchos win.

After striking out two in the 10th, Ager struck out three in the 11th without allowing a hit – the only Cal Poly runner reaching base because of an error – and earning the win, just the second of his collegiate career.

UCSB starting pitcher Cory Lewis had another solid start on Friday, striking out eight as he went 8.1 innings.

Lewis, a sophomore, didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning, as the Gauchos had built an early 3-0 lead after getting to Cal Poly ace Drew Thorpe early.

He would finish the contest allowing three hits, two earned runs while fanning nine batters.

In the second inning, the Gauchos scored three runs, courtesy of an RBI single from Klassen and a two RBI single from Blake Willits.

By the end of the second frame, Thorpe had already thrown more than 60 pitches and issued four walks.

Still, the Cal Poly managed to find his control, as he ended up pitching 6.0 innings, allowing just two hits and three earned runs to go along with five strikeouts.

His offense came alive in the sixth inning, as the Mustangs rallied to tie the contest at 3-3 after an error scored one run, an RBI double scored another and an RBI single scored the last run.

UCSB would retaliate with a run in the top of the seventh, as catcher Gianni Bloom hit a solo shot to left center.

Bloom, who was making his first appearance since March 25th after being down with an injury, had a solid contest as well, going 2-for-4 with a homer, a triple and working a pair of walks as well.

After Cal Poly tied it in the bottom of the eighth, UCSB scored another three runs in the top of the ninth as Bloom hit a triple to right field to score Jason Willow.

Klassen then homered to right field to bring the two runs home and give the Gauchos a 7-4 lead before the three-run spray from the Mustangs.

Overall, the Gauchos worked 12 hits on Friday and added to its Big West-best home run total, now standing at 53.

UCSB will face Cal Poly at Baggett Stadium for game two of the series Saturday at 4 p.m. Mikey Guttierez is expected to start for the Gauchos.